A Letter from Danny: Life lessons in the Army
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Note from Lauren: Today's blog post is a little different and a little more deep than most. My husband is an officer in the US Army and he wrote this to summarize his experience in the Army thus far. Sometimes our careers impact us so much more than just professionally and I love how Danny has related his experiences in his job with his every day life. Enjoy!
For those of you who don’t know me, I am in the Army. Specifically, I am a medical operations officer (MEDO as I am called) for a light Infantry Battalion based in Hawaii. Even though my work environment can be harsh at times, I choose to be positive. I didn’t always used to be positive, but I recognized a few things during my first few months being in the Army that has deeply impact my life. Here are the three things I have learned:
1) Life: “this is life man” my battalion commander said in reference to being in the Army. When I work 16 hour days, I internalize that statement and ask myself if this is what I want. I am proud to serve my country and I genuinely want to serve and make the Army better. I see many Leaders that focus on their evaluations and the career aspect of the Army and that it makes the serving miserable. Rather than catering my life to trying to be number one, I have changed my focus to making my Soldiers better, making my organization more effective, and serving the people to the best of my ability. If I happen to love this life and be competent at it then great, but I recognize that “this is life” and I have to LOVE what I do because how you spend your days is how you spend your life.
2) Perspective: If it won’t matter in 5 years, don’t spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it. PERIOD. I have to stop myself all the time and ask this exact question, it proves to be so true time and again.
3) Positivity: I have found a love for surfing since moving to the North Shore of Oahu. I go out surfing with Lauren and my good friend Tom, a MEDO for another battalion, all the time. Every time we go out it is about positivity, fun, and a shared love for catching the best wave. I went out the other day and ran into an Officer from my battalion and he kept complaining about getting cut off by other surfers, in experienced surfers getting in the way, and how crowded the beach was. As I was sitting there, I couldn’t help but think of the positivity of the moment and how this guy was missing out because he was so fixated on a little spec negativity. In everything you do, positivity is a choice. Choose to be positive, choose to hang out with positive people, and choose a life that you love.
-Danny
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